News

IEEE is 125 years old this year (2009) and will be holding ‘celebration’ events in several locations around the world. Munich and London have been chosen for IEEE Region 8.

The London event will be held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (21 Albermarle Street) where Faraday did his famous experiments.

Provisional details are as follows:

Date: 6th October 2009
Time: ~1600 to 1830
Provisional Programme:
Opening addresses by UKRI Section Chair, Seán McLoone and Region 8 Director Józef Modelski
Lecture 1
Short address from IEEE President John Vig
Lecture 2
Closing remarks.

The two lectures will be given by Professor Dame Wendy Hall (Southampton University) and Professor Chris Toumazou (Imperial College).

For more information on these two lecturers, see
http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/wh/biography.php
and
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/c.toumazou

The above Programme will be followed by an evening Reception (invited guests only)

Although IEEE was really formed in 1963 by a merger of AIEE and IRE, the starting date of AIEE was 125 years ago (1884).      The IET (former IEE) claims to be older, founded in 1871 as the Society of Telegraph Engineers.

Details of the 125th Anniversary Celebration in London on 6th October 2009 will be provided on the anniversary website:

http://www.ieee125.org/celebrate/events/calendar/2009-10-06-engineering-future-global-event-series-london.html

Tony Davies 30 March 2009

IEEE Milestones recognize the technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Each milestone recognizes a significant achievement that occurred at least twenty-five years ago in an area of technology represented in IEEE and having a large impact. To date, more than seventy-five Milestones have been approved and dedicated around the world. Initiated by the IEEE Benelux Section, the IEEE dedicated a Milestone to N.V. Philips’ Gloeilampenf abrieken, with the following citation:

[singlepic id=1291 w=369 h=259 float=left] COMPACT DISC AUDIO PLAYER 1979

On 8 March 1979, N.V. Philips’ Gloeilampenfabrieken demonstrated for the international press a Compact Disc Audio Player. The demonstration showed that it is possible by using digital optical recording and playback to reproduce audio signals with superb stereo quality. This research at Philips established the technical standard for digital optical recording systems.

March 2009

For a video press release (March 2009), please press here.

On 6 March 2009, IEEE President John Vig presented an IEEE Milestone to Rick Harwig, Chief Technology Officer of Royal Philips Electronics, for the creation of the Compact Disc about 30 years ago. The presentation and unveiling of the Milestone was the culmination of a three-hour long event, in which short speeches were delivered by the Rector of Eindhoven University of Technology (where the event took place), by Georges Gielen, the IEEE Benelux Section Chair (which Section nominated Philips for the Milestone), by the Mayor of the City of Eindhoven, by the Deputy of her Majesty’s Governor in the Province of Noord-Brabant, and by the Deputy Director-General for Enterprise and Innovation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The first more or less technically-oriented and historical lecture was given by Joop Sinjou, with the title “From LP to CD”. On the occasion of the Milestone, a book was published by Springer in the Philips Research Book Series; the first copy of the book, entitled “Origins and Successors of the Compact Disc: Contributions of Philips to Optical Storage,” was presented to Joop Sinjou by IEEE Life Fellow Hans Peek. Both Joop Sinjou and Hans Peek played an important role in the development of the CD.

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After the tea break, two more lectures were presented: one by Hiroshi Ogawa, entitled “Sony’s Approach to the CD,” in which Sony’s role in the development of the CD was discussed, and a more general one by Frans Greidanus, with the title “Innovation and Optical Storage.” The ceremony ended by John Vig’s presentation of this first Milestone in the Benelux Section to Rick Harwig, who expressed Philips’ sincere appreciation for getting this important award.

 The photograph shows the unveiling of the bronze plaque by John Vig and Hans Noordanus, who was the driving force behind the Milestone nomination.

More information about the event can be found on the IEEE Benelux Section web site, in particular on the web page http://www.ieee.be/milestone.html.

[singlepic id=1291 w=120 h=160 float=left] Bob’s passing has elicited many expressions of sadness and regret from his IEEE friends and colleagues, not only for his years of dedicated work on behalf of IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), but especially for the manner in which he carried out his volunteer duties.

When Bob first became active as an IEEE volunteer, about 50 years ago, the Institute was essentially an American organisation with only a small minority of members in other countries. He was perceptive enough to realise that the inevitable growth of membership outside the USA would present a complex and difficult challenge. He resolved to work with others, first in the UKRI Section with his good friend R C G Williams, and then in Western Europe, to bring together senior engineers to build a new infrastructure (now known as Region 8 of IEEE) capable of developing technical activities and services for ordinary IEEE members.

Bob’s deep understanding of cultural and political differences became invaluable as IEEE expanded beyond the Iron Curtain and into the Middle East and Africa. His efforts to encourage growth in Eastern Europe were particularly successful. His skill in resolving differences of view across national boundaries set a high standard for his successors to emulate. His meticulous record keeping underpinned the integrity of the new organisation, which he served as Secretary and Treasurer.

Bob maintained that the ‘rules’ should always be observed. Ironically, the set of rules that IEEE adopted many years ago for the conduct of meetings is known as ‘Robert’s Rules’, although in this case Robert was an American Military Officer.

Bob was widely appreciated for his wisdom and wit, for his kindness and thoughtfulness, especially towards new recruits, and for his basic humanity.

He will be greatly missed.

A Biography of Robert C (Bob) Winton can be seen at: http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/biography/winton.html

March 10^th 2009

Amman, Jordan, 11-14 May 2009

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Organized by IEEE- Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) Student Branch, in partnership with IEEE- Texas A&M University at Qatar Student Branch, and Hosted at Princess Sumaya University For Technology (PSUT), the ME-SBC will be a unique opportunity for IEEE volunteers from more than 100 different student branches in more than 10 different Sections in Region 8, to socialize and interact, develop their soft skills, enhance their insight into technology, discuss the common obstacles faced by their branches in the region and get equipped to tackle them in the upcoming year.

The First IEEE ME-SBC will honor and celebrate a great achievement; 125 years of Engineering the Future. It will include the following major events:

1. The Volunteers Enrichment Program (VEP)
2. The Delegation of Aspiration (DOA) Contest
3. The IEEE 125^th Anniversary Celebration Gala Dinner
4. The ME-SBC Award Ceremony
5. The Middle East Job Fair

Each student branch will be represented by a delegation of 4 delegates. Applications for participation will be received and reviewed on a rolling basis starting March 1^st. Applications are available through the ME-SBC website (Visit www.me-sbc.com).

[singlepic id=1287 w=89 h=125 float=left]Submission of Nomination Forms has been closed on February 20. Evaluation is in progress. For details, please visit the Chapters website

Peter Magyar
CCSC Chair

[singlepic id=1287 w=89 h=125 float=left] Submission of Nomination Forms has been closed on February 20. Evaluation is in progress. For details, please visit the Chapters website

Peter Magyar
CCSC Chair

The IEEE Contact Center is conducting a pilot to determine better ways to service our members.  During this pilot we are offering IEEE members residing in Region 8 and Region 10 (Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific), the option of having an IEEE Contact Center Representative call you during specific hours. Call back hours are Sunday 11:00 p.m. GMT to Wednesday 9:00 p.m. GMT. Follow this link to submit a ticket.

The IEEE Contact Center is conducting a pilot to determine better ways to service our members.  During this pilot we are offering IEEE members residing in Region 8 and Region 10 (Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific), the option of having an IEEE Contact Center Representative call you during specific hours. Call back hours are Sunday 11:00 p.m. GMT to Wednesday 9:00 p.m. GMT. Follow this link to submit a ticket.

The first meeting of the Region’s 8 Operating Committee was held on the 24-26th January in Qatar. Beside the discussions on the future directions of R8 strategic activities and the details of the R8 Committee  meeting agenda in Venice, OpCom members had meetings with the Qatar Section officers and local engineers community.

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Although the Section is quite “young”, has been in existence for only 5 years, it has been developing and expanding very dynamically. Section Chair Yacob Almulla and Secretary Tariq Masood had prepared an impressive itinerary which, on the first day, included the meeting with a few presentations demonstrating the Section’s activity, technical presentations by several Gulf leaders on the general area of energy on the second day, and a visit at Qatar Petroleum on the last day.

Jozef Modelski
Region 8 Director

Read more… >>

The first meeting of the Region’s 8 Operating Committee was held on the 24-26th January in Qatar. Beside the discussions on the future directions of R8 strategic activities and the details of the R8 Committee meeting agenda in Venice, OpCom members had meetings with the Qatar Section officers and local engineers community.

[singlepic id=1289 w=200 h=240 float=center]

Although the Section is quite “young”, has been in existence for only 5 years, it has been developing and expanding very dynamically. Section Chair Yacob Almulla and Secretary Tariq Masood had prepared an impressive itinerary which, on the first day, included the meeting with a few presentations demonstrating the Section’s activity, technical presentations by several Gulf leaders on the general area of energy on the second day, and a visit at Qatar Petroleum on the last day.

Jozef Modelski
Region 8 Director

Read more…>>